Italian cruiser Confienza

Confienza was the last of four Goito-class cruiser torpedo cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1880s. She was armed with a variety of light guns and five 14 in torpedo tubes, and was capable of a top speed of 17 kn. The ship was built in the late 1880s, with her keel laying in September 1887 at the Arsenale di La Spezia; she was completed in April 1890 and thereafter entered service with the Italian fleet. Confienza had a short and uneventful career; she spent her time in Italian waters and did not see any action. Stricken from the naval register in August 1901, she was thereafter broken up for scrap.

Design
Confienza was 73.4 m long overall and had a beam of 8.05 m and an average draft of 3.04 m. She displaced 756 LT normally. Her propulsion system consisted of two double-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by four coal-fired locomotive boilers. Confienza was slightly slower than her three sister ships, with a top speed of 17 kn from 1962 ihp; the other members of her class were a knot faster. Confienza had a cruising radius of 1100 nmi at a speed of 10 kn. She had a crew of between 105 and 121.

The primary armament for Confienza was five 14 in torpedo tubes. She carried a heavier gun armament than her sisters, and was the only vessel of the class to carry a medium-caliber weapon, a single 4.7 in 32-caliber (cal.) gun mounted on the bow. She also carried a light gun battery for defense against torpedo boats. This consisted of six 57 mm 40-cal. guns and two 37 mm 20-cal. guns, all mounted singly. The ship was protected with an armored deck that was 1.5 in thick.

Service history
The keel for Confienza was laid down at the Arsenale di La Spezia in September 1887, the last member of her class to begin construction. She was launched on 28 July 1889, and fitting-out work was completed on 11 April 1890. She then began her sea trials, which concluded in June. On 1 October, she was stationed in Taranto along with the ironclads ITALIAN IRONCLAD Affondatore and ITALIAN IRONCLAD Ancona, the protected cruisers ITALIAN CRUISER Liguria, ITALIAN CRUISER Umbria, and ITALIAN CRUISER Etruria, the torpedo cruisers ITALIAN CRUISER Montebello and ITALIAN CRUISER Monzambano, and several other vessels. She remained there through 1894. Later in 1894, the ship was assigned to the Third Division of the Italian fleet, along with the ironclad ITALIAN IRONCLAD San Martino and the newly commissioned protected cruiser ITALIAN CRUISER Liguria. The following year, Confienza was stationed in the 2nd Maritime Department, split between Taranto and Naples, along with most of the torpedo cruisers in the Italian fleet. These included her sister ships ITALIAN CRUISER Monzambano, ITALIAN CRUISER Montebello, and ITALIAN CRUISER Goito, the eight Partenope-class cruisers, and ITALIAN CRUISER Tripoli.

The ship was stationed in Naples in 1900, along with the old ironclads ITALIAN IRONCLAD Regina Maria Pia, ITALIAN IRONCLAD Castelfidardo, and ITALIAN IRONCLAD Affondatore, the armored cruiser ITALIAN CRUISER Marco Polo, the other three Goito-class cruisers, Tripoli, and the two new Agordat-class cruisers. Confienza's career was the shortest of the members of her class, having spent just over a decade in service before she was stricken from the naval register on 26 August 1901 and broken up for scrap.